STARTING MY REAL ESTATE CAREER WITH FSBOs & EXPIRED LISTINGS

During this month of April 2013, I have been celebrating 25 years as a Georgia real estate agent. So many things have changed; most changes have been for the better. Having begun my career as a BASIC and COBAL computer programmer, technology has always fascinated me. Basic and COBAL are computer programming languages; COBAL (COmmon Business-Oriented Language) is one of the oldest programming languages and is still used with most mainframe applications. Most people have never heard of it. However, it is running silently in the background, making the ATM run smoothly and traffic lights change seamlessly.

I was programming COBAL for The Citizens Bank in Gainesville GA and working as a computer operator in their data processing center when I learned of a Gainesville real estate office (a Coldwell Banker office) looking for a bookkeeper and ad writer. Working in a cold computer room and not seeing but one or two people a day if I was lucky, just didn't fit with my personality and my need to be around people. Therefore, I jumped on a job opportunity as a bookkeeper and ad writer and began working for Wayne Clark, who had just bought his partners out of the Coldwell Banker franchise in Gainesville. While there, I would write commission checks to agents amounting to more than I was making in a whole year. I didn't realize then it could have taken more than a year to earn that commission. I think you see where this is leading, thus starting my career in real estate. I was still going to school at night at Gainesville College during all this, and immediately decided real estate was what I should be studying.

Starting out really young in this business, as I did, is very challenging. I earned a reputation as a hard worker by knocking on doors of For Sale By Owners (FSBOs). When I began selling, the listings were all compiled into books and agents got copies of the MLS book every couple of weeks to learn what was on the market. When you wanted to show a house, you went to the listing office and picked up the keys. Moving to a computerized Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and the lockbox were huge advances in our industry.

I soon developed a system for contacting not only FSBOs, but also sellers after listings expired and staying in touch with them through mailings. It produced appointments that turned into listings. These led to many relationships that I still value today. I learned through this experience that sellers wanted me to see the house and they appreciated my enthusiasm. Once I had this system in place, my business grew exponentially. I hired an assistant to keep the prospecting going. I must be one of Top Producer's oldest clients, having used their real estate contact management software since the early 90s. I am thankful and proud to have gotten my domain, www.kimwaters.com in 1994. With such a common name, had I not been on the cutting edge of technology, I wouldn't be able to use my name, which is my brand, as my website.

Speaking of For Sale by Owner listings (FSBOs), I still enjoy explaining the benefits of listing a home with a Realtor verses selling by owner. In all these years, the major reasons a seller lists with a Realtor still haven't changed.


In my next blog posts, I’ll detail the reasons why it pays to list with an agent verses selling by owner.  I hope you’ll subscribe to my blog by entering your email address at top right on this page and confirming the email you receive.  You will then get my blog posts delivered directly to your email box.
 
The photo shown this week is a lake listing I just listed www.SouthLakeLanier.com. If you know of someone looking for a great lake house with a sunset view on Lake Lanier, this is it.  It just doesn't get any better.

 
 
 

 





Comments

  1. Real estate company now playing a great rule. They provide many house and sale cheap price. But you should buy always best house for leaving. You can now order in online. There are Online real estate auctions for Cheap real estate

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